


If the world was ending

by bambii077



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:35:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25076233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bambii077/pseuds/bambii077
Summary: When Emily is being tortured she remembers important parts of her life, including all of her moments with JJ.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 2
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Playlist that I created for the fic:  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0eVztfe9aiIOeh5AEgLyXA?si=H_WoYYt3QySWc6DA0YEl1A
> 
> (you'll have to copy the link and put it in google I'm sorry I'm dumb djdjdjjd)

"Where am I?" Emily asked the man standing in front of her. She was still getting her bearings. It looked like she was in a hospital room. She looked around again. No, not a hospital room, it wasn't that clean, it didn't smell like a hospital.  
"You were in a car crash, a bad one." the man said. He was wearing scrubs, he was a nurse. The gloves he started taking off were covered in blood. Emily was confused. This definitely wasn't a hospital, but there were medical supplies around the room and that man was definitely a medical professional.  
"Oh my god, what happened?"  
"Your SUV sustained the brunt of the impact. Specifically, you sustained it. Do you remember?"  
Emily tried to think back. "No, I-," she cut herself off as she suddenly remembered. The spikes on the road, losing control of the SUV. She remembered both cars coming to a halt before a truck crashed into them. "Wait, yeah. My team." The sheer panic she felt was evident in her voice. She needed to know if her team was okay.  
"Take - take it easy, Agent Prentiss. Got you stabilized, but you've got to stay put." As the man tried to calm her down, make her stay where she was, she realized she didn't tell the man her name, she hadn't told him anything. How did he know these things?  
"Where am I? This isn't a hospital. I've been in enough hospitals. I know how they sound, how they smell. So where the hell am I?" The man looked behind him, as if to check that they were alone. "You're being taken care of. We both are." The man started to leave the room.  
"Wait. What - what does that mean? I don't understand you." Her fear and pain were clear as day in her voice, which she hated. She heard the man talking to someone behind the curtain. "Yeah, she's conscious." Someone else made their way into the room, moving the curtain out of their way.  
Scratch.  
"Well, hello, Emily." Now it made sense. They knew they were most likely driving into a trap. He released the spikes, he drove the truck that crashed into them. He had taken her.  
"Son of a bitch."  
"It's nice to meet you too, finally." He smiled down at the brunette, satisfied at her remark.  
"Did you grab all of us? Huh? Are we all here? Luke! JJ!" She winced in pain. She desperately hoped someone from the team would answer. As much as she didn't want them to be hurt, at least she would know they were alive. At least she wouldn't be alone.  
"No. It's just you. Your team is fine, by the way," Emily felt hope. Yes, that meant she was in even more danger, she was here by herself, but her team hadn't been taken, and they were safe. Scratch smirked slightly, a twinkle of evil in his eyes. "Excuse me. I take that back. The truck I drove into your team did kill SSA Stephen Walker - whiplash, tragic, leaves behind a wife and two children, I believe."  
"No." Emily couldn't hold her tears back. Stephen was dead. Because of her. She was the one who hired him, asked him to look into Peter Lewis, asked for his help.  
"That's good. Get it all out." Scratch was enjoying this.  
"I will make sure you fry for this."  
"Will you? Well, maybe you should take a look at yourself first..." Scratch pulled Emily's blanket down, revealing her broken legs. "Because from where I'm standing, you won't be doing much of anything for the rest of your life." With that, Scratch left, and Emily was alone again. She took this time to try to fight back, and remember what she has to fight for, remember her family and all that she would be giving up if she let Peter Lewis win.

"𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯, 𝘌𝘮! 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬!" 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭! 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵!" 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴... 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘪, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘶𝘱, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. "𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵." 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱. 𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘪𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘰𝘭. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. "𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦." 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. "𝘕𝘰! 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥!" 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵. "𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯, 𝘗𝘎. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. "𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘮, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶." 𝘑𝘑 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘑𝘑 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦. "𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?" 𝘑𝘑 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘳. "𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵? 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦." 𝘑𝘑 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 "𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯," 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. "𝘑𝘢𝘫𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑'𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘑'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳. "𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘑𝘑, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺. 𝘑𝘑 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘑 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. "𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘥. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘑𝘑 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘺𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘑 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘺𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘱. "𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱." 𝘑𝘑 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘛-𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘥. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘑𝘑 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬, 𝘌𝘮." "𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱. 𝘑𝘑 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳. "𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘌𝘮. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦." 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘑'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳. "𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘑𝘢𝘫𝘦. 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱. 𝘑𝘑 𝘵𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. "𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦." 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘑𝘑 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘰𝘭. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵... "𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘑𝘑 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘑𝘑 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.

Emily opened her eyes when she heard Scratch speak.  
"Taking a little mindfulness break? Trying to control your breathing? That's smart." He was clipping his nails next to her, the clippings falling into the bed. "It'll keep you sane, and I need you sane. Oh, how rude. Excuse me." He brushed the clippings off of the bed.  
"Look, I'm only alive because you want something, so what do you want?"  
"Information that only you have."  
"What are you waiting for, then? Dose me with your drugs, the ones that make me see whatever delusion you suggest, and I'll tell you want you want."  
"Hmm, I would love nothing more than that. Unfortunately, in your current psychical condition, the sevoflurane and scopolamine would send you into a stroke."  
"Guess we're at a stalemate then."  
"No. I still have drugs than can make you talk, just different drugs." Scratch turned around and grabbed something. He showed Emily the bottle with a slight smile. "This is morphine. This is what is making your life very livable right now. Without this... your body will be on fire, and then you really will tell me everything I want, no delusion necessary."  
Scratch left the room again, and Emily was wondering about what he could possibly want, how far he would go to get it, and how long she could take his torture.


	2. Chapter 2

"𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘑𝘑 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘑𝘑, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦. "𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘬. "𝘐- 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥. "𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘑𝘑. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴. "𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦. "𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘺. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦?" "𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺," 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬, "𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘑, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥." 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥. "𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶." "𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘶𝘱, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘥𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?" "𝘜𝘩𝘮, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨?" 𝘑𝘑 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦." "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬?" 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘱. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘺𝘦𝘵. "𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱." "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘺? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥?" "𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥... 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘵." 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘯." 𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 "𝘰𝘩." 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥. "𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳. "𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺." 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. "𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦?" "𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭. 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴, 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱. 𝘈𝘴 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

Emily groaned in pain. This was getting more difficult by the minute. She didn't know how much longer she could deal with the pain.  
"Look, okay. Look, okay. Whatever it is, we can discuss it. You don't have to do this. Just give me the Morphine, okay, and - and - just - you can ask whatever you want." Her whole body was on fire, it hurt to talk, to breathe. "It was our investigation into you? Is that it? Is that what you want to know?"  
"Tangentially."  
"Oh, nngh." Emily let out painfully. She just wanted the pain relief. "Then what? Tell me. Tell me. Then I'll tell you. It's that simple. Tell me, and I'll tell you." She could have cursed herself out, giving in to Scratch so easily. She couldn't help it. She was practically begging him at this point. She would do almost anything to ease her pain.  
Scratch smiled at Emily. He was getting what he wanted. "Yeah. I believe you will now. There is a certain dearly departed team member of yours that I would like to discuss with you."  
"Stephen."  
"No, not Stephen. This one isn't dead, at least not yet. This agent and I had a little tete-a-tete, and I crossed a line I shouldn't have. I really couldn't help myself, and I started to stalk his son, and do you know what he did, that coward? He went into witness protection... and he has been very difficult to find ever since, so that's what I want to know. I want you to tell me where he is, because I know you know."  
"No. Oh, stop, no." She couldn't help the tears rolling down her cheeks. Not this, she wasn't going to let him get to Aaron, or Jack. Even if she did know where they were, she would never tell him.  
"Yes, Emily. Where is Aaron Hotchner?"  
"I don't know where Hotch is, I don't." Emily cried. "That's how witsec works. He has to be hidden from us because of men like you."  
Scratch held up Emily's phone. "Do you recognize this? Well, it was a text exchange you had with a series of burner phones, and a last text exchange between you and this mystery man reads, "Honduras connection is a go. Hunting down all leads to B-Cap in DC. Thanks. A.H."" Emily let out a pained sigh. She didn't know where Hotch was. She'd faked those messages as a trap.  
Scratch picked up a hammer, and removed the blanket from Emily's legs.  
"Let's get down to the question at hand. Where is Hotch?"  
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. He never gave me an address. All we did was text."  
"No," Scratch shook his head. "Last chance."  
"Vermont. He's somewhere in Vermont." Emily let out desperately, but Scratch dropped the hammer on her leg anyways. He didn't believe her. Emily screamed in pain.

𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘑𝘑 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘑, 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘕𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘌𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺, 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘑𝘑 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘑𝘑 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝘑𝘑'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘑𝘑 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰. "𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴." 𝘑𝘑 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘻𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘨. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘑𝘑 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. "𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. "𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘑𝘑 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. "𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘺. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘨. "𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬," 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘑𝘑. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴, 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

Scratch leant on Emily's bed, getting her attention.  
"Where is that place that you got to ground yourself? I'd like to know."  
Emily let out a sound of disgust, looking up at Scratch. "So you can destroy it. See, I've read your case file. I've read about how your father was killed when you were thirteen, and earlier, you said something about crossing a line when it came to stalking a child. I realized Hotch's son Jack, he's thirteen now, too."  
"I'm not a pedophile. I'm insulted by your inference." Emily shook her head slightly. "No. Your interest in Jack in clinical. You want to see what it will be like if he grows up without his father like you did. That's what I've been focusing on. After you kill Hotch, you'll never leave Jack alone. Am I right?"  
"You are."  
"Then let me tell you something, Peter. I've died before protecting a child." Declan. Sweet Declan. "That was a child I barely knew, but Jack, I love Jack. I've watched Jack grow up. I will not betray him or his father, so it doesn't matter what you do to me. I will not break."  
"Let me test that resolve."  
Scratch picked up a scalpel from the side table and held it just above Emily's eyes. She could practically feel it, but refused to close her eyes. She couldn't show him fear. No matter what was about to happen, she couldn't let him break her. He held the scalpel there for several seconds before briefly shutting his eyes in defeat. "You make an interesting point," he said and placed the scalpel back on the table. "I need a plan B."  
Emily gasped as he walked out of the room. She had been scared, terrified, of what he might do. She was to be considered lucky at the fact that Scratch seemed to change his mind.  
"Hey, you, come here."  
The nurse stopped and moved the curtain slightly. "Just for a second," Emily whispered. "Please, I just need a second." She said more desperately.  
The man walked in, and took the blood pressure monitor off the table.  
"Please. Please help me. You don't even have to get me out of here." The man started checking her blood pressure. "Just make a phone call. You can use my phone. Call 911, leave the phone, and run."  
"I can't do that." The man didn't even look up at her as he spoke.  
"I won't tell them you were involved," she begged.  
"It's not that simple."  
"You said that we were both being taken care of. You mean trapped. He has your family, doesn't he?" That got the man's attention, he looked at Emily. She was right. The man looked back towards the curtain, seemingly scared. "Okay. My team can rescue them. It's what we do."  
"I have to go." The man stated as he took the monitor off the agent and placed it to the side.  
"No. Please." He was her only chance.  
"I can't," he said as he rushed out of the room.  
"Take my phone. Please take my phone." Emily begged but he was already gone.  
"It's so hard to find good help these days." Scratch said as he entered the room again, making his way towards Emily's bed. "It seems like no matter what, I'm left to do all the dirty work." Scratch picked up a needle.  
"What is that? Is that the Morphine?"  
Scratched started filling the syringe with a clear liquid. "It's Amphetamine. I figured out my plan B. I can't torture the answer out of you, so I'll simply stop your heart instead," he said and pressed on the lever of the syringe, pushing the Amphetamine into the drip attached to Emily's arm. "If you want to live, tell me what I want to know." He had defibrillators in his hand. Emily started panicking, she was starting to seize.  
"Where's Hotch, Emily? Where's Hotch." Emily didn't answer him. She meant what she said earlier. She would never turn on Hotch or Jack.  
The beeping on the monitor increased in speed, Emily was running out of time.  
She gasped, and flatlined. Her vision went black.

Emily opened her eyes, and she could see herself laying on the hospital bed, the nurse trying to resuscitate her.  
A bright, white light caught her attention, and she walked towards it, through the curtains.  
When her vision cleared, she was walking towards her grave from all those years ago. She looked down into the hole, and then at her tombstone.  
"In loving memory of  
Emily Prentiss  
Oct. 12, 1970  
March 7, 2011  
Sep. 21, 2011  
???"

"Of course. I get it now." She looked around her, saw the trees and grass, the other graves. "I get it." She said and jumped into the pit infront of her.

She came to with a gasp.  
"That's it," the nurse smiled at her, putting his equipment back on the table. He put an oxygen mask over Emily's mouth and nose, helping oxygen flow into her lungs. "Please, tell him what he wants. If you tell him what he wants, this can all be over. He'll release my family, and - and then I can help you, okay?" The man almost seemed desperate. Emily tried to speak but the mask made her incoherent. "What? What's that?" He removed the mask from Emily's face.  
"Go get him." The man was relieved, put the mask away, and rushed out of the room.  
Emily lifted her hands from underneath her blanket, moving her sling and she sat up. She pulled the blanket back, and after a few seconds of looking at them, they went back to normal. She was breaking the delusion. As she looked around the room, objects started fading. She was becoming more lucid. "Yeah, I get it."  
She saw Scratch's shadow so she covered herself with her blanket as she laid back down.  
"He's on his way, okay?" Scratch said. Emily knew that he was acting like the nurse, that there had never been another man there with her. He repeated "okay" until Emily responded. "Yeah. Yeah. Okay." Scratch briefly left the room before returning again.  
"If I would've known that putting you at death's door would get you to talk, I would've started with that. Now, are you ready to tell me where Hotch and Jack are?" Emily nodded in response. "Good. Go ahead."  
"They're at..." Scratch leant down towards Emily. "Tell me."  
"Eight... five..." Emily lunged forward, biting the side of Scratch's face, making him scream out in pain. He stumbled backwards and Emily took the opportunity to get out of the bed. As she ran out of the room, she saw him grabbing her gun from a drawer.  
Emily ran down a hallway, taking a right to get up some stairs. She knew Scratch wasn't far behind her, so she didn't slow down when she heard "FBI" followed by gunshots. Her team was here. Now all she had to do was outrun Scratch until they got him.  
"Prentiss! Reid!" She heard Alvez shout, so she looked around the barrel she was hid behind for a second before seeing scratch just a few feet in front of her. She pushed the barrel towards him and ran away, Scratch shooting at her.  
"Prentiss!" Reid. He was close by.  
She ran down a flight of stairs, turning left and running into Matt. Reid followed just behind her, gun up and ready to shoot.  
"Lower you weapon, damn it." She said as she realized who it was.  
"Where's Scratch?"  
"He's upstairs. Tag in here. Simmons and Alvez can box him in."  
"No. I need to go find him." Reid rushed out and almost ran off.  
"No, no, no, Spence." Her plea froze him in place. "I need someone I know is real right now, all right?"  
Reid holstered his gun, walking towards Emily with open arms. He shared a look with Matt and the other agent took off running. "You okay?" He asked Emily as she started crying in his arms. "Uh-huh."  
She was lying, obviously. She was far from okay. She was terrified, her mind was a mess. And that was before touching on her memories of JJ, and what they mean. Reid sat her down on a crate, held her hand and rubbed his thumb over her back in an attempt to calm her down.


	3. Chapter 3

𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘑. "𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘌𝘮, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳. "𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯, 𝘌𝘮! 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵?" 𝘑𝘑 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥. "𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭... 𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸. "𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭?" "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭? 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦?" 𝘑𝘑 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. "𝘐'𝘷𝘦... 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. "𝘌𝘮, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘴... 𝘐 - 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘪 𝘰𝘳 - 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘯." "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘑𝘑. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘺..." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮. "𝘌𝘮, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘣𝘪. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺." "𝘕𝘰, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 - 𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 "𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺" 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦... 𝘨𝘢𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘑𝘑 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢. "𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘦." "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺?" "𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘌𝘮. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘦." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘺. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰." 𝘑𝘑 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘑𝘑 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘱. 𝘑𝘑 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘑𝘑 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. "𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 -" 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘱, 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴. 𝘑𝘑 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. "𝘚𝘦𝘦?" 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘱. "𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥. "𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘌𝘮. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 -" "𝘕𝘰, 𝘯𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘑𝘑 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥. "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦." 𝘑𝘑 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬. "𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘺." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 "𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵" 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘑𝘑 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘑𝘑 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱, 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵.

Gunshots brought her back to reality. Reid helped her stand up, and they started walking further away from where it sounded like the gunshots came from. They couldn't risk getting seen, being targeted.  
"Scratch is down. Repeat - Scratch is down." Luke's voice came over the walkie. Reid and Emily looked at each other, relieved that there was no longer a threat. They made their way outside.  
"He fell trying to escape." Luke explained. The team stood there, relief but also sorrow washing over them. They never wanted any of the unsubs to die, but sometimes it's the best, or only, way.  
Reid stayed by her side until the ambulance pulled up. Once it did, the paramedics immediately got Emily to lay down on the bed, telling her they needed to check her over once they got to the hospital. Emily nodded solemnly, she was exhausted and the adrenaline she had, had left her body. She decided to close her eyes, just to get some form of rest.

𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘑𝘑. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺, 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵. "𝘎𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘑, 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴?" 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺. "𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥'𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. "𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘳," 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺. "𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬. "𝘐, 𝘶𝘩, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩." "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳. "𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳." "𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯." "𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. "𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳?" "𝘕𝘰." 𝘈𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳," 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦. "𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵. "𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯... 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴, 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳. "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥." "𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥. "𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥." "𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯." 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. "𝘕𝘰. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯." "𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦." "𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦." "𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸." "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?" "𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺." "𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺, 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. "𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵." 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. "𝘕𝘰. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘯-" "𝘕𝘰." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬. "𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺... 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬."𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. "𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺?" "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. "𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳?" 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? "𝘕𝘰. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦." 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. "𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵." "𝘏𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺." "𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. "𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘦𝘵. 𝘐- 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵." 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘑𝘑. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺." "𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺." 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?" "𝘜𝘩 - 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳" "𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳"." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩. "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘗𝘎. 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨.

After she had been cleared by the Paramedics and eventually the doctor at the hospital, Emily signed herself out and went home.

She almost immediately went into the kitchen to grab herself a bottle of scotch and a glass. She poured herself some alcohol, downing it straight away. She refilled her glass and sat down on her couch.  
The fact that she had thought about JJ through the whole ordeal meant more than she wanted to admit. She laid back, hoping to get some sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘑𝘑. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘴𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘑, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥. "𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺," 𝘑𝘑 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘴𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺, "𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘑 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. "𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰, 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦." 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵. "𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮." 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱. 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. "𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘏𝘰𝘸'𝘴 𝘑𝘑?" "𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴-" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘑𝘑 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰?" "𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴." 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳." 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. "𝘎𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮." 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘑. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘑𝘑 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴, 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘑𝘑 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘑𝘑 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘴. 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘑𝘑 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘑𝘑 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘨, 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑'𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥. "𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶." 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺. "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰." 𝘑𝘑 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰, 𝘑𝘢𝘫𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. "𝘚𝘩𝘩. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰." 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴. 𝘑𝘑 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘑 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮, 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘑 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘨𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮. "𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. "𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?" 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩. "𝘜𝘩𝘮... 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴." 𝘑𝘑'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘕𝘰, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯." 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺." "𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴." "𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴." 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹. "𝘕𝘰." 𝘑𝘑'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. "𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘑 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴? "𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯." 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘑𝘑 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰 𝘑𝘑 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺.

Three sharp knocks pulled her from her memories. Emily let out a sigh as she walked towards her door, looking through the peep hole. JJ was stood on the other side, bag in hand. Emily opened the door, a confused look on her face. When JJ looked her in the eyes, Emily saw her face was red, her eyes were puffy. She'd been crying.  
"Can I-"  
"Yeah, of course. Come in." JJ stepped into the hall, dropping her bag to the floor. She made her way through to the living room and sat, waiting patiently for Emily. When Emily appeared again, she had a bottle of white wine and a glass. She filled it and handed it to JJ, getting a small smile in return. JJ took a drink, then looked at Emily. "Can I stay here for a little?"  
"Stay as long as you want." Emily sat down next to the blonde. "Do you wanna talk about it?"  
"Will and I, we had a fight." JJ looked at Emily, then let her head fall a little. "We broke up."  
The words were followed by complete silence, until JJ sniffled slightly. Emily put her arm around JJ and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry."  
"It's okay. I mean, the break up is. We'd been having problems. Honestly, I'm surprised we stayed together this long. It was the fight that... well, it was bad."  
"What was it about?"  
JJ shook her head. "So many different things."  
The two of them sat there for a while, eventually moving onto different subjects as they drank.  
"Okay, Jaje. Come on. You need to sleep."  
"No!" JJ said, a giggle following her words.  
"Yes."  
"Okay, fine." JJ stood up from the couch. "But only if you catch me." She laughed and ran away from the sitting are. Emily rolled her eyes but soon followed her. She caught the blonde in just a couple of minutes. It wasn't that hard, she could barely even walk straight.  
"Okay, fair's fair. Take me to the couch." JJ said, jumping on Emily's back to be carried. Emily luckily prepared herself just in time, making sure neither of them fell. Instead of going to the living room, she took JJ into her bedroom.  
"Em, what are you doing?"  
Emily set JJ down on the floor, pushed her slightly so she fell back on to the bed. "You're my guest. I'm not going to sleep in my bed and make you take the couch. I'll take it." Emily laid pyjamas out for JJ to change into, left the room and closed the door.

"Em!" JJ shook Emily awake. The brunette opened her eyes, confused.  
"What? What is it?" She looked at the time on her phone. "Jay, it's four o'clock in the morning. This better be good or I swear to-"  
"I couldn't sleep."  
Emily sighed, deciding to stay up with her. "Go get some water at least."  
JJ stepped out of the room, giving Emily the opportunity to properly wake up. She stretched, rubbed her eyes. By the time she sat up, JJ was back in the room.  
They sat there talking for another hour before JJ was clearly getting sleepy.  
"Em, can you please come sleep with me?" JJ asked shyly. She wasn't used to sleeping alone. Emily agreed and they went to the bedroom.  
Shortly after laying down, JJ turned to Emily. Before she could ask what was wrong, JJ kissed her. Emily melted into JJ. Kissing her now felt the same way as it did all those years ago. It was familiar, it felt right, and Emily had missed it so much. Yet she still broke the kiss.  
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you back. You're vulnerable right now, I-"  
"Stop. This is what I want." JJ couldn't bring herself to say it, but that's what part of her fight was about with Will. When Emily was taken by Scratch, JJ realized she still loved her. And she decided to tell Will that.  
"Stay with me. We can talk about it in the morning. No matter what happens next, we both need this right now. Please, stay." JJ begged, and Emily nodded. The blonde smiled at her before turning around again. Emily put her arm around JJ's waist, pulling her closer.  
This felt good, it was perfect. Even if it was only for the night.


End file.
